Silent Leges Inter Arma – Ad Plures Ire (Review)

No matter what – the subject of death still carries a very personal frame that finds its manifestation in all different types of perspectives. Especially when regarding ancient cultures, the ritualized way of dealing with the passing of your beloved ones showcased that routine was one major aspect that was supposed to offer guidance during atrocious times in your life. When it comes to the metaphysical perspectives of the proceedings of the passed soul, universes diverge massively. Black Metal outfit Silent Leges Inter Arma dived deeper into the mythology of afterlife within the Epic of Gilgamesh on their latest release Ad Plures Ire.

Silent Leges Inter Arma is a German Black / Death Metal duo from Rostock that has already been around for quite some time. With their first demo being released in 2008, the predecessor of their current full-length that was released via Eisenwald came out in 2012. This means that there was a pause of 10 years in between the former album and their current release Ad Plures Ire. However, the band was not inactive during that time, since the focus was shifted towards building a personal studio in order to generate more freedom regarding the recording process – as well as the release process when taking into consideration that this album was self-released.

It only needs a few seconds into the first track “The Way of All Flesh” for the listener to realize that the overall sound you are confronted with marks something different from a lot of music that is currently within the scope of many listeners. With slightly distorted guitars, an epic yet dark riff introduces you to the track that is quickly accompanied by a deep and rasping growl and memorable guitar play. Although this sounds like quite a regular description of a Death Metal tone, the overall perception is difficult to grasp. The sound of Silent Leges Inter Arma on Ad Plures Ire has something incredibly calm and soothing. Within the frame of a consistent cathartic melodical body, it feels as if you are appeasingly welcomed at the beginning of your transition from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead. The comparison that came to my mind at that spot was Amon Amarth on their Versus the World. Although the sound of those bands is not exactly comparable, the impact those releases have work towards a similar atmosphere.

The most striking element definitely comes from the guitar play that underlines the overarching theme of what “Ad Plures Ire” – going to the many – stands for, which basically describes the ritualized process of dealing with the death of a person. Almost on the entire release, the cathartic riffing reminds you that we are working towards a greater goal – something that is built up. Combined with the vocals that also are – in my opinion – very memorable due to the fact of sounding like humming Black Metal that also mixes up the borders between the former and Death Metal, this constructs a tone that is very specific. Intro sequences such as on “Mourning” that kick off with an acoustic guitar and a cello fit in damn well, too, in order to uphold the entire atmosphere.

On “The End of the Way,” the capability of songwriting comes up once more when the progression of the track naturally reworks towards the general atmosphere of the album. Calmly opening, this track slowly works towards a rise of tension when still consistently cutting back towards soothing acoustic sequences. The growling vocals work damn well with the “cleaner” sound in the background and when the distorted guitars kick in after the first third of the track, it entirely unfolds. The riffing is absolutely massive, different spheres of genres collide on merely one track that are embellished with epic lead melodies.

Apart from the calmer sequences on the faster tracks, though, especially “Irkalla” and “To Last Forever Reprise” are striking for the whole sound on this album. On “Irkalla,” we have a beautiful duet of two acoustic guitars that convey a slightly medieval and sad atmosphere – and takes place right after “Mourning.” Sometimes, similar “interlude” tracks tend to be annoying yet the guitars here are worth listening to for every second. Same goes for “To Last Forever Reprise,” which is an entire piano track that again serves with a massive construction of tension before the finisher “Descent to Hell” takes off.

When I first listened into this release, I was not immediately hooked from the first second on – it definitely needed a little progression into the tracks so as to recognize the individual sound Silent Leges Inter Arma play. However, once it clicked, I got stuck on this release discovering more and more layers of sound on all of the tracks. This is definitely an album that you should enjoy repeatedly, since it unfolds when being able to take closer looks at the details within the sound. Having been new to the band with this album, this duo is going to remain on my scope in the future for sure.

It is still possible to purchase the CD digipack via the band’s bandcamp page coming with a 16 pages booklet.